Joash

By Odon Bulamba (17th August 2011)

Before Jesus left He said, you are not alone, I’ll send you someone to help you but that someone is not welcome in the church today. It’s not very often you will hear the church talking or preaching about the Holy Spirit. How can we survive without remembering the Holy Spirit. The church today doesn’t want to walk with the Holy Spirit which is why the church isn’t functioning properly.

II Kings 11, talks about a young boy called Joash who was only 7 years old (II Chron 24:1) when he became a king. His grandmother had all the children of the king killed and she reigned as the queen but Joash had an aunty who saved his life and hid him in the temple for six years. During the time he was hiding, he saw all the problems in the temple and so when he became king he knew what needed repairing and he knew to encourage the people to worship God.

Joash had a good committee that he worked with to fulfil the plans of God but later in life, he kicked out that committee and found new friends who advised him and allowed him to worship other gods and God wasn’t pleased.

Oneday, Zechariah (the son of Joash’s uncle) when to see the king and told him it’s not good what you are doing. Joash was unhappy and sent people to stone Zechariah saying, “God sees all and will bring you to justice”.

When satan comes and tries to stamp you out, when satan visits your family, when things become difficult in your family and in your life, what do you do?

We are descendants of David, God has chosen us and we are His children and He gives us power to lead the world (in the same way Joash was a descendant of David and chosen to lead Israel). Conflict comes and tries to attack us in the same way the grandmother in this story came to attack God’s chosen.

Grandmothers, in general, are very different from us, they talk differently, walk differently, wear different clothes, listen to different music and enjoy different things to us. Grandmothers try to make the like of children easier and when the child is wrong, they try to protect them from rebuke. Satan is like a grandmother playing with us sometimes, he tries to protect us from discipline so we won’t learn and we something take refuge in that grandmother (satan). This is not a good protection. Satan will come to us and show us all the securities in the world; we need to have a degree from university, we need to have money, we need a secure job….but he won’t talk about the true security in the Holy Spirit.

People today are trying to grab everything they can from the world and satan opens up the opportunities to slowly bring you away from God’s will. For example, satan will give you a job on Sundays which kills that desire to go to church and you leave God for your own personal interests. But the Holy Spirit hides a portion of your life in the temple so that you can return to God and rebuild the temple and remember to worship Him again.

For example, here at Little Bethlehem Church, we used to meet on Fridays to read the Word of God together, but it would be very difficult to go back to meeting on Fridays again. We are more and more absent. Eleven years ago when we met at Springfield, there were many people coming and now there are less people. This small group are in the temple, we now need to repair the temple, we need to read the Bible, pray, and go to church and we have to pass from words to action.

Sometimes we will face circumstances and if we are not tough with ourselves, we’ll allow circumstances to push us away from our plan with God. If I have a plan today to pray at 11am, be sure the phone will ring at 11am. We have to fight the temptation and stick to our plans for God.

Sometimes we appear to be Christians in front of others but we are sick in front of God, yet God continues to call us His children. To love someone, you’ll first feel it in your heart. God loved us so much that He sent His only son, He didn’t say it with words but with actions. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your soul, mind and heart. We have to show God with our actions how much we love Him and we have to first feel that love in our heart and if we don’t feel it, we have to pray and ask God to feel the love we have for Him.

The temple was 125 years old and needed repairing. You might be an old Christian but you might also need repairs in your life; maybe your love has decreased. Whenever we see something wrong in our lives, we must fix it, don’t wait.

Sometimes we try to choose the wrong friends (as Joash did) but we need to be careful to choose friends that will support us and bring us closer to Jesus otherwise we might be mislead to adore the wrong things in the world. How often do we go back to doing wrong things in our lives like Joash building the gods.

Who influences us; our friends, ourselves, our envy? If we stop and repair what is wrong in our lives, we will be successful. Search how to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Ask God to teach you, “Let me feel how much I love You O God”. The first step is to ask God to teach you to love Him and then you’ll learn slowly, slowly how to feel God’s love for you.

After Joash was advised by Zechariah, he had him killed and how many times to we hate people because they tell us to come back to Jesus or how many times do we accept to be stoned by people to bring them back to Jesus?

Muzzle My Mouth

By Hayley Boud

Psalm 39:1b, “I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle”

Why should we guard our mouths? Why don’t we just say whatever we want, whenever we want and however we want?

Because if we are not careful, we can offend someone, we might stumble someone to sin, to become angry or we might turn them off Christ if we talk harshly or insensitively, or we might raise up their curiosity, or encourage them to talk about useless things, to gossip, joke about things that shouldn’t be joked about or if I speak before thinking I might say something that I don’t really mean, or I might talk too much and annoy people. It’s very easy to sin with the mouth; we can sin with words or with the tone. Sometimes we can use the right words but our tone lets us down.

James 3:2-10, especially verse 8, “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly[or restless] evil, full of deadly poison”.

We know that snakes have poison in their mouths and they have a two pronged tongue and we know that the serpent represents satan. Our tongues can also be a serpent two-pronged tongue because one minute we are praising God and the next we are abusing someone with it. It is really hard to control the tongue, which is why this verse stood out to me when I was reading Psalms, because it’s not easy to put a muzzle over the mouth.

“I” means it’s up to my will. I decide. “Not my will but Yours God”. What is God’s will? Self-control, kindness, goodness, peace, joy, love, gentleness and faithfulness. Our mouths must always speak kindly with love and joy. Our mouths must always bring joy and peace to others, not the opposite. So we need to speak with kindness and gentleness and we need to show self-control when it seems impossible to do so. That is God’s will.

James 1:26, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue….this one’s religion is useless”.

“Guard”, guards will stand in front of an entrance to prevent either people going in or people going out. For example, guards will stand in front of a prison to prevent prisoners from leaving and before prisoners can be released, they have a hearing and a judge will examine them and decide whether the prisoner is a threat to society or if they will become a productive part of society to build up the community.

We have to do the same with our mouths. We have to examine our words and decide if they should remain in the mouth or whether they can come out. We have to ask ourselves before releasing the words, ‘is what I am about to say going to be productive or will it destroy. If I say this, will the person be encouraged or discouraged? Will they be lifted up or pulled down? Will they be inspired to work for God or will they feel like giving up? Will they be left with joy or will they feel disappointed? Will my words bring peace or will they stir up anger or provoke the person to sin? Will my words bring light or will they be full of jokes or useless comments or gossip?’

Examine our words first. Be on guard, like the prison guards, and don’t let the wrong words out.

Also, the Hebrew meaning of the word for “guard” is “to hedge around something” which makes me think of a fence around a home to keep the dogs in. If the dogs keep getting out then you have to fix the fence because there are consequences, maybe someone will get hurt or maybe the pound will pick up your dog and you’ll have to pay the fine. There are consequences to our words and if the wrongs ones keep escaping, then we have to fix the fence around our mouths. How do we do that? Think before you speak.

James 1:19, “This you know, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;”

“This you know”, we already know this, but we still need reminding (every day)…be quick to listen. Let others talk, the more they talk, the less likely you’ll sin because they are doing all the talking and while they talk think very carefully before answering. When feelings rise up (anger, disappointment, sadness etc) take time before talking. Sometimes I count a few seconds in my head or I tell the person I’ll get back to them so I have time to calm down. Sometimes I tell God first before I tell the person.

“Muzzle”, is something that you put around the nose and mouth of a dog to prevent them from biting people or other dogs. We have to muzzle ourselves too. When a dog is muzzled, it actually changes the whole personality of the dog. The dog becomes extremely soft and humble. The dog hates to be muzzled because it’s not comfortable, and it feels so humiliating but it’s important to muzzle certain dogs because when a dog bites, the damage is serious and we are so sorry for that person. We can even feel sick. We should feel the same way when we make mistakes with our mouth, we should say, “I’ll use a muzzle from now on”.

So what is a muzzle? It’s a decision; we decide that we WILL change. We stop and think about all the people we have hurt in the past and we allow ourselves to feel bad and we ask God to remove that sin and then we promise to God that we will not do that anymore because we are genuinely sorry for our mistakes and we decide to muzzle our mouths….

Be slow to speak (count time, formulate an answer, remove the emotion)


Be quick to listen (try to understand the other person’s point of view)

Also, whatever is in our heart will eventually come out, so let's make sure to forgive, forget, remove any bitterness and keep our hearts pure.

Revelations 11 (Part 5) Power

By Odon Bulamba (30 March 06) Summary only

“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.” Revelations 11:15

It’s not easy to reign over a country if you are not ready and you have to accept all the advantages and disadvantages of the job. You’ll have opposition that will be against you no matter what you say or do, even if you are doing a good job. That’s why the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to reign in our lives so He could take control but we sometimes try to stop that power.

When the 7th trumpet sounds everybody will understand that something is happening and will discover the power of God and understand how much He will rule everything. During that time God will come with power and prove He is able to rule all the nations.

You can’t reign without power and that power will come from somewhere, usually from nations. The people elect someone but before to be elected there must be an election campaign where the person will try to be kind to everybody and give food, housing, clothes etc to get the votes. Our Lord Jesus Christ was given power since the beginning of everything, He came down to do His campaign but we didn’t recognize Him and we tried to take away His power but He continues to reign.

We need power to perform miracles and for God to act through us so people can be pleased and find the name of God among them. To gain power you just have to follow the first commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. If I love my neighbor, I will get favor from her because love is patient and love is kind etc and so when it is the time for election my neighbor will remember these qualities and she’ll tell others about me. If my behavior is not good no one will vote for me and if my behavior is not good in front of God He also will not choose me so for that reason we must watch our behavior with others if we want to reign with Christ.

When there is a campaign there are many promises made and we must remember those promises we have made and make sure to fulfill them. If you told God you will pray twice a week then make sure to do it. Whenever we want to reign be careful with what we say and confess because we can confess things that will either build or destroy. Samson lost his power just because of a few words that he confessed and God is sometimes very tough with us and can remove our power just because of a few words.

Many people today are given a power; power of the Holy Spirit; power of knowing how to love each other; power of glorifying God in everyday life, but we often put that power aside and try to glorify ourselves and put love last and forget we are called to reign in this world. God gave to you everything you have and now you have to control that kingdom but we only want to control other people. Some of us are unable to control our own children but we want to control other people’s children. We can easily see the picture of others but we try to hide our own picture.

Power is something very important, in the kingdom of God things can change in an instant and if God decides something no one can stop it and He doesn’t need the support of humans.

After blowing the seventh trumpet the world was supposed to know who the true ruler is, the King, the One controlling everything. A king knows everything that is happening in his kingdom and must care when his kingdom is attacked. We forget about God’s reign in the kingdom of God and we destroy His church, His plan, His Kingdom, we destroy everything although God has given us that power, we use it to destroy.

When the trumpet is blown the 24 elders will fall down and glorify the man. When God speaks to us what do we do? Do we fall on our knees or do we neglect? Do we stop and think this is the voice of the Almighty God and think about what to do? When people or your conscience tells you something, do you recognize you are in front of someone powerful and kneel down and humiliate yourself or do you say you don’t care? The Kingdom of God is being destroyed today because we always think we are the best and others are below us.

The elders bowed down and adored and no one pushed them because power is powerful and you don’t have to push people to respect you. But today we try to push others to respect us; e.g. ‘She is supposed to come to me, I am not supposed to go to her first’. We are good at judging others and critiquing their mistakes but God is looking at us to see who is reigning (us or satan). Am I among the 24 elders adoring God or do I just wanting others to adore me?

In the Kingdom of God democracy doesn’t exist, God is not a dictator but a father and whoever loves His child will show him the right way.

Power without opposition is not a power and if you want to reign in the kingdom of God accept people to come to you to tell you your mistakes, to show you the way, accept so you can improve and the name of God can be glorified.

Jesus is love and is the King who reigns and He comes to us and says that because He gave His life for us, we must also give our lives for others. That means you have to put yourself in the shoes of others and think, ‘if that was me what would happen?’ and that will make you think deeply and that is the secret of forgiveness because I can also make mistakes and if I say I can’t forgive how will that person also learn how to forgive?

We have to learn the Word of God and teach it to others with our actions and that is the campaign of the Kingdom of God and God will want to use you because everybody will be ready to work with you.

SUMMARY

1. You can’t reign without power

2. To gain power you have to love your neighbor as yourself
- to love is to die for others
- to die for others is to put yourself in their shoes

3. We must remember our promises and keep them

4. Power is given to us to glorify God, not ourselves

5. We have to control our own lives before we can look at the lives of others

6. When God speaks to us we must listen and not neglect (He uses people/our conscience)

7. don’t consider yourself above others

Revelations 11 (Part 4) The prophets death

By Odon Bulamba17 March 2006

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.” Revelations 11:7-14

A power will come from hell called the beast and the beast will attack and kill. The beast is part of the Roman Catholic Church today and this church is whoever accepts to be part of the Ecumenical Council and along with the United Nations they will decide to kill the two prophets in Revelations. For example, because of the influence of the power of hell, satan worshipers will find a place in government and be supported by many people, even the church will support them.

That power will grow up to the point that the Word of God, especially Jesus Christ, must not be talked about anymore but because the two prophets will continue to talk they will be killed and after being killed there will be a huge ceremony. In our churches today we start to live like this, to put the name of Jesus aside and the pastor becomes the idol in the church and people say, ‘do you remember what the pastor said,’ rather than looking at the Bible and we follow the rules of the church rather than the rules of the Bible. Because of blindness, the church will follow more and more the rules of the world than the rules of the Bible so the end time will be like the days of Noah when he said the world will be destroyed and you have to repent and the people said he was crazy.

The people were happy that the prophets were killed and they exchanged gifts and celebrated and didn’t bury their bodies in order to mock them and how many times to we expose the Word of God and mock it? When it is written, don’t steal, but when the opportunity comes I steal. Sometime we mock God but we need to respect God our Father who is God. Our God is not impossible to reach but we are abusing His power, His kingdomship, his level of knowledge and we try to prove to God He is stupid. We have to recognize His power and He manifests His power through people and that is why we have to love our neighbor.

How many times do we mock others, how many times do we look at others and bring them down. Are we better than that person? We who think we are the best are actually the last one.

After three days of mocking, God intervened and He spoke to the dead bodies and they came alive and those who were mocking were shocked. Because God was angry He brought an earthquake which brings panic and fear because people can see death and at the place where Jesus was crucified He also brought an earthquake. This was Golgotha and this is a place where you and I have to stand whether we have done good or bad.

Golgotha means skull and skulls have a meaning; they all look the same and you can’t tell by looking at it to whom it belongs and if you see a skull you will think of danger. Jesus puts His trust in us but we let Him down and we put God in a dangerous situation where He becomes afraid of our faith, and when we do things against Jesus we crucify Him again on the cross.

When God will raise up the two witnesses from the dead there will be a great earthquake and 7,000 people will be killed and often with God when He says 7,000 it will be 7,000 to the power of 7,000 so many will be killed and the number seven and the number 1,000 has a meaning for God.

People will be afraid during that time and not have peace and a tenth of the world will be destroyed and people will not repent but instead will glorify God and how many times do we also worship God while there is sin in our lives. When we are wrong the first thing we must do is to accept I am a sinner and to fix that problem with the person and with God. We are good at neglecting this and yet we are good at exposing others when they are wrong.

As these two witnesses accepted to die for the glory of God we also must accept to be hated by others. The Church needs the message of prophets and so don’t be the first one to stone them to revenge yourself. These people were given a warning in verse 14, ‘the second woe has past and the third is coming’ meaning that the kingdom of satan is growing up day after day and we as Christians see it but we neglect it and woe to those who neglect it but if you want to please God don’t neglect because God sees everything.

We only want to read big things in the Bible and neglect the little things and we only want the big roles in Church but when God asks us to do small things we neglect it. The second stage has past and our church has past through that and now the seven trumpets are coming and all of this is to prepare us for the end of time. If God comes back today will you be among those who mocked, will you be among those who shared gifts while others are in trouble, will you be in the group of people who say it’s too much with God and put Him aside?

Revelation 11 (Part 3) Olive trees and lampstands

Revelation 11:3-6

By Odon Bulamba (24 February 2006) Summary only

These two witnesses are referred here to as olive trees. Olives are a small fruit that don’t look very nice and our tongues don’t really like the taste of them because they are too bitter. God brought these two men as olive trees among other trees meaning that when these men preached, the words were bitter to those listening and because it wasn’t a good taste to them they wanted to cut the trees down to get freedom and it’s the same for us when we talk about religion it can cause others to hate us.

You can tell a tree by the fruit that it produces and when people are living with us, what kind of fruit are we representing to them, the fruit of the flesh or the fruit of the spirit? These men were olive trees among other trees meaning that their identity stood out and could not be hidden and when we are with others, do we show our Christian identity or do we try to hide? We have to live in a way that others will see God in us.

These two men will also be like lampstands, not lamps but the stands that hold them meaning they hold light for others. Our eyes bring light for our bodies and our bodies will never complain because they are tired of holding the eyes but sometimes we complain when it is time to light the way for others and we feel tired. When Moses prayed with his hands held in the air there was victory for the Israelites fighting and when his hand fell there was defeat and if we accept to hold something God is able to give us victory.

To be a lampstand you have to be ready to give victory to others to show them that without light you can’t walk. To be a lampstand we have to know we are standing in front of God and remember that God is watching me and controlling my way of talking and acting and if God is next to me how much will I try to be Holy? If we remember that God is next to us every second then we will be good lampstands but if we forget, we’ll put the lamp down and walk away.

A lampstand is very important because it holds light and every house has them and without them light will not reign but darkness. If you are the light in your society or family and darkness comes with problems that is the time as lampstands to gather together and kneel down and ask God for help. We are troubled because satan brings pressure in our lives and family but we just have to trust in God, be patient and it’ll past, nothing resists forever under the sun. Grab the fruit of joy from God and receive God’s pure water that can take away problems.

God asks only one thing and that is to hold on to His commandment. God only respects you if you hold onto His Words.

Vs 5, “If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die”.

If you belong to the Kingdom of God and people talk or think negatively about you, God will do something, all you have to do is protect your mouth and be careful what you say because whatever you confess will be done. E.g My husband makes me angry so I tell God to punish him, don’t be surprised if he gets killed. Whatever you ask will be given to you; Elijah asked for the rain to stop for three years and it did and many people in the church today are there only to bring plights on others, things that will harm them. Elijah wanted people to know God by force and when we push others to the level of making them suffer they will accept God because of pain but when they receive what they need, they’ll turn from God again. God has a plan for every person and we are just required to teach the good way to follow but not to push because people will say no.

Everybody wanted to kill Elijah because he didn’t bring joy or peace and sometimes we can make people hate us because of our way of acting. For example I go to a friend and I talk to him for two hours about all his mistakes, although I might be right we have to go slowly and talk nicely and understand that he is going through a process and pray for him and support him and if we try to push we will destroy things. Grace is telling people of the gospel smoothly without pushing and with prayer. Preach the gospel in love and let God give life to that gospel. Remember that love is patient, kind, etc.

These two people were acting on God’s behalf to please God and to please the glory of heaven and not to please people. In some extreme situations God will ask you to do things that the world will hate.

Do we really love God because sometimes we hear people talking against God but we don’t do anything but if we heard them talking against our husband we would say something. God protects us day after day but when it’s our time to protect His glory we run away, we don’t want to be identified as Christians.

The people of Israel were happy when Moses and Elijah died because they were jealous and how many times are we jealous because of someone else’s success.

These two men were killed but God brought them back to life again which is called resurrection and we also go through a resurrection after we have been born again and we accept to live according to God’s will and accept to defend God’s glory and accept our old nature to die and we get a new life. This is the first resurrection and then you will die and you will pass through the second resurrection where you will receive life eternal. Someone can be born again and decide not to go through the first resurrection but God will persist until they do or after a time He will leave them and they will lose their salvation.

SUMMARY

1. What kind of fruit do we produce? (Fruit of the flesh/spirit?)

2. Do you hold the light for others so they can see the way?

3. Do you hold onto God’s commandments? (He only asks this one thing)

4. Be careful with what you confess because God will give it you and you might regret

5. Don’t push people to Christ.

6. Do we really love God?

Revelations 11 (Part 2) Only Measure What is Important

By Odon Bulamba (17 February 2006) Summary only

Rev 11:2, “But the court which is without the temple, measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty and two months”.

God told him to measure the temple but not all of it and our bodies represent the temple of God, so what shall we not measure?

1. Your beauty
God doesn’t care about the outward appearance; that is left for the Gentiles. It is better to spend time making our souls beautiful than our outside.

2. Money
God doesn’t need money but many people because of money will put God aside and give His place to money and that is for the Gentiles. Mt 6:25,26, don’t worry about your life, go to God if you have needs. You have to learn to live on a daily basis and don’t worry about tomorrow, God holds your future in His hands.

3. Intelligence
Gentiles used to meet at church to impress others with their knowledge and today we sometimes think we are greater than others because we are better at singing or dancing and that pushes us to minimize others but who are we to tell God He doesn’t know what He is doing.

Rev 11:2, “and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty and two months”, this is 1672 days and represents the 3 ½ years of Daniel and now grace will be removed and Jesus will come back to take His Christians. God will send Moses and Elijah down (vs3 = the two witnesses) because they have never died but their bodies went straight to heaven and so now they will have to face death. People will recognize them in that day because they will come with a power and God will put a spirit of conviction among the Israelites.

Moses and Elijah will preach the gospel and people will accept them but not Jesus and how many times do you accept people or trust in money or your wife or your pastor or you doctor rather than God Himself? We have been taken to the highest place (like Elijah and Moses went to heaven) and now we are pushed to come down and talk to people about the gospel. How many people have we redeemed? How many times have you accepted these people to be a part of your life?

People will stone them and how many times because we are looking for pride we stone or step on others? They accepted to be stoned for the truth and when you get pressure from the world, your boss, your neighbor, how do you react? God will measure your love, patience, self-control. Sometimes we act like Gentiles and forget that God is our Father, we can only see the negatives in people and we make assumptions but we must look for the positives and seek truth not assumptions.

If we want God to use us we have to prepare ourselves and to prepare ourselves we have to measure God’s work in us and measure ourselves.

SUMMARY

1. We have to measure ourselves but not everything

2. We don’t have to measure our outer beauty, money or intelligence

3. We have to preach the gospel

4. When we are stoned for the gospel, God will measure our reaction and our love

Revelation 11 (Part I) Measure yourself

By Odon Bulamba (10 February 2006) Summary only


Revelations 11:1-6 “I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.”

These two witnesses were human beings like you and me and God rose them up to be witnesses of God. John was told to measure the temple which is not a physical temple but is represented by people and the way they will be measured will be through these two messengers.

When you go to a dressmaker to have a skirt made for you, the dressmaker will measure your waist and height because if they don’t you will get a skirt that does not fit you and looks strange. The same with the church, we must use a perfect measure and the only thing God uses is His Word. You have to ask yourself, how big is my faith? How good am I in loving people? How good am I at sharing or respecting or praying? Who am I in front of the Word of God? Be honest with your conscience. Try to measure yourself because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and if you know how to measure your body perfectly you will be a perfect Christian. By measuring yourself you will know if you are at the place God expects you to be or if you have to make a catch up.

John was told to measure the temple by himself, he didn’t need any one to assist him and we have to measure ourselves. Ask yourself, ‘am I ready to serve God? Am I ready to pray?’ Sometimes people want to impress others when they pray by screaming loudly and with tongues but they know it doesn’t come from God and if they are pretending it is a sin and a mockery against God, they just want to show everybody that they are better than others but this is a big mistake. If you are the temple of the Holy Spirit then don’t allow your body to be led by the spirit of darkness. This means your actions, and attitude must be clean.

John was told to measure the alter which is a place of sacrifice and is found in the second part of the temple in the Holy Place where only those who were clean spiritually could go.

To measure yourself in the Kingdom of God is to give your life to God for Him to control. The alter is a place where you put things on top and when we put ourselves on top of others and humiliate them and make ourselves higher God is unhappy because He has given us a position of authority but we have to know how to use it to help others. We have to accept others the way they are and not to criticize them because that is to say God made a mistake and shows we are unable to measure things correctly and we go beyond the limit God has set for us. Our way of talking can shock others so we have to know how to measure our tongue because whatever you confess will either build up or destroy and people recognize by your tongue whether you are a Christian or not.

John was told to measure those worshipping in the temple, what does worship mean? It means to give Him praises for all that He has done and to give ourselves and our time to Him. Most of the time when we glorify God we use repetition but to repeat is not to glorify God. Tell God about yourself first, what you went through today or your entire week and by telling Him God will know this person is really grateful and this is worship. How many times do you worship a day, how many times do you find time to thank God for all that He’s done for you and your family? We have to know how to glorify God with our work and our time, the secret of receiving is giving and if you do not give then you will not receive.

We need to know how to measure our temple (body) our alter (mouth) and then the way you are worshipping (how and when do I?). If you are not able to measure yourself and know who you are, how will you know who God is?

SUMMARY

1. We have to measure ourselves against the Word of God

2. Ask yourself questions (how big is my faith, how good am I at loving/praying etc)

3. If you know how to measure yourself perfectly, you will be a perfect Christian

4. To measure yourself in the Kingdom of God is to give your life to God for Him to control

5. To measure your alter is to measure your tongue (by your way of speaking people will know whether you are a Christian or not)

6. We have to measure the way we worship (praise God for all He does for us)

Revelation 10 (Part II)

By Odon Bulamba (27 January 2006) Summary only


Revelations 10:7-11, But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: ‘Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.’ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings’.

John said, “give me the book” because he was told by God to take it and he obeyed God completely. Most of the time when God sends us to people we change the words to make them fit into their lives so as to not shock them and so they will be pleased. I have to go like a snake and zig-zag instead of going straight to that person and telling them what God has said. Often when someone is crossing a hard situation, instead of going straight to that person and praying with them, we first go to Ange, ‘do you know what is going on in Eve’s life?’ and then we ring Sylvie to find out what is going on and then everybody’s curiosity will wake up. We don’t have to go different ways, we just have to take the straight way and pass the message as it was given to us.

How many times has God told you to talk to someone or to pray for someone but before to go you think more than 10 times, maybe it’s not from God, maybe it’s just my thoughts. When you are doubting, ask God to convince you so you can be sure.

John asked straight away and without doubting but for us, most of the time we forget the Bible says to ask and it will be given. When God says to do something, don’t hesitate, just do it because when you wait things become harder and then our faith starts to sink. John didn’t ask questions, he just took the book and when God asks us to do something we don’t have to ask questions but just to obey.

John was told to eat that book which is not easy, you have to chew those pages and swallow paper. He didn’t discuss but ate it immediately. “In your belly it will be bitter but in your mouth it will be sweet,” so that in your mouth you will find it tasty but in your stomach it will change. Whenever you receive the Word of God and it comes out of your mouth to use it to speak to others, it will taste really yummy but when you start to meditate on that Word it will taste bitter. For example, if you are a thief and you read, don’t steal, you will become angry. When you are not touched by the Word of God, you know there is something wrong.

When you are reading the Word of God just to advise others and you are forgetting yourself, you are wrong. Tell others when you find a weakness in yourself to pray for you and don’t be ashamed because nobody is perfect. We are called to humiliate ourselves and the first step is to confess our sin and tell others about our weaknesses and that will also encourage them to come to you to confess their weaknesses. But if you are someone who is always saying, ‘look at me, I’m strong, powerful etc,’ people will be afraid to come next to you.

John was told to take the message to all the nations, tongues and kings. Who is a king? Someone who has power and authority and we also have to reign and control our hearts, our body our lives and be aware of what is going on around us. When satan comes to tempt you, it’s up to you as the ruler to accept or not. Cigarettes, alcohol, stealing etc can control your kingdom if you give away your right to reign.

SUMMARY
1. Say what God sends us to say directly
2. Do what God tells us to do immediately
3. Read the Word of God and meditate on it for ourselves and not just for others
4. You are the king of your body so control it

Revelation 10 (Part I)

By Odon Bulamba (20 January 2006) Summary only


Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

If you write the Word of God on your heart, you can’t easily sin, it’s like a sign that stops you. For example if you see a police car while you are driving you will check your speed, seat belt and make sure you drive in a proper way. When satan sees you have the Word of God in you, he will know he will not be able to make you sin but he will try anyway because that is his job, just like the police will stop you to check your WOF, breath etc.

Rev 10:1, “Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars”.

Angel means messenger and this angel was not just a simple messenger of God but God Himself. An angel can be God Himself, an angel, or a human being bringing a message from God. The difference between an angel and a human is that an angel never dies and has lived already an eternal life and most angels are sinless and full of purity and holiness.

Jesus is coming down (vs 1) with a rainbow on his head which represents the covenant of grace God had with Israel to never destroy the world with water again (see Rev 5 notes). When Jesus came the first time he put on a crown of thorns (not a crown of rainbow) and these thorns made Him to bleed and to suffer and by His blood, we were saved and whoever accepts Jesus Christ will not perish but inherit the Kingdom of God.

“His face was like the sun”, God wanted to shine so that people would notice His presence and His power but not everybody could see that, only John. Usually the only way to know if someone is powerful is to observe his actions or to hear about them, you must have a revelation and it is the same with God, you will only recognize His power with revelation.

“Feet like pillars of fire”, if you wear fire on your feet you will burn sin wherever you step.

Rev 10:2, “He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land”.

The sea represents the Word of God and the earth is where our bodies come from; therefore kingdom of the earth and the sea belong to God (we belong to God).

Rev 10:3, “and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke”.

God used the voice of a lion roaring to show He was angry. Water can kill fire but if the fire is powerful the water will not stop it and God’s foot with fire will be on the sea and the earth. This sign shows us that on the ‘day of judgment’, the earth and the sea will catch fire and He will have a book in His hand and He will rise up His right hand and speak to His Father.

Rev 10:4-6, “And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay!”

There will be no more delay. In Dan 12:6-7, there is a delay of 3 ½ years to repent and to prepare themselves but here there is no delay anymore. If you are not ready, it will be too late. When God roars like a lion 7 times thunder will immediately come from heaven. If you hear that 7x thunder you will be afraid. John was told to not write the message of that thunder down and in Deut 29:29, it’s not an obligation for God to reveal everything to us, He can reveal what He wants.

We people of God have to try our best to remember that Jesus Christ is coming back soon, one of His foot can already be seen and signs are already there, disasters appear day after day and things we couldn’t see twenty years ago, we can see minute after minute. Our lives are catching fire also, you can see today the number of people seeing counselors is increasing. Problems make people sick and our hearts are sick sometimes and need to be healed by God – just give your life to God, accept suffering and practice the Word of God.

Revelations 9: 13-21 (The Sixth Trumpet) Summary

The role of the alter (Ex 30:1-12) is a special place where God meets with us, but He requires perfume to be given to Him. Aaron was not allowed to go to that place unclean, he had to prepare himself physically and spiritually and if not he would die. It’s a serious place with no jokes. God comes close to those who try to be clean and if you are not clean, God will keep some distance towards you. We have more responsibility than Aaron, we who are strong have to help the weak and we who have knowledge have to share and we who have love must love everybody and we must serve God every second of our lives.

Aaron’s children tried to offer a different sacrifice than God asked and they were killed and we also must not offer any sacrifice but what God tells us and that is all.

Atonement is when someone accepts they are wrong, this is when atonement is fulfilled but if you are not convinced then there will be no atonement and if you don’t have atonement it will be very hard to hear the voice of God (God’s voice comes from the alter).

Vs 14,15 (Gen 3), three angels will come out from the river to destroy the world. God bound them so they couldn’t move because their presence means death. These are not evil angels but angels that God has control over and as we are talking, these creatures are coming out now, the boundary that protects Israel has been broken down and these angels are being freed. They will occupy four corners of the earth and will attack the world and kill one third of the people under the sun.

Vs 16, the 200 million people in the army represents the UN which contains 190M soldiers already and they are prepared for war although they call themselves peacemakers. They will be the strongest army in the world and they are put together from all nationalities of the world = Armegeddon. They will say that they will fight against Israel but when Jesus comes back they will fight Him. They need the baptism of satan so they won’t fear.

They wear a breastplate which represents protection and because they are called peacemakers they are sure that they can’t die. On the breastplate are red, blue and yellow and when you mix colours it brings confusion. The first colour is red (fire) and the second is blue which will hide the first colour and they call themselves blue helmet. The next is yellow and these three colours are found in fire and they will use fire to consume the world although they claim they come to bring peace.

Brimstone/sulphur = Sodom and Gomorah. There are toxic fumes that kill you whenever sulphur is burned. There is a mushroom growing up and we can see the stalk and soon the head will follow. E.g. we accuse muslims of terrorism and others accuse Islam and others accuse Americans and others accuse Russians; it is a confusion and we don’t know who is doing what but at some stage it will be clear.

Blindness will be given to the church for example many Christians in US voted for George Bush for a second term although the first term was terrible, and this is like Lot before Sodom and Gomorah (blindness).

Vs 17, The lions represent tanks and 1/3rd of human beings killed of tanks today. We are also killing each other with our actions and way of talking. When Adam ate the fruit he was dead for God because God couldn’t see him anymore. The church will kill 1/3rd of the church and the politicians will kill 1/3rd of the politicians meaning that we will kill each other physically and spiritually.

Vs 19, the horses have power in their tails like serpents and the government today brings laws for example to protect children there will be no smacking of children and this will be supported by the church but this will kill the children morally. This is like the five foolish virgins and ½ of Christians will work for satan while the rest will go through tests and difficulties so the number that will follow Christ will remain small. The serpent (the church) will destroy the world so don’t be a fan of a church because fanatism destroys. We have to look after our salvation and if we are not careful we will be bitten by the church.

Vs 20, we have to be careful to not make anything around us idols or to swear on anything.

SUMMARY

- the alter is a special place where God meets with us
- God comes close to those who try to be clean spiritually
- we have a greater responsibility than Aaron (give strength, love and knowledge)
- we must only do what God asks of us and nothing more
- to hear the voice of God we must have atonement (accepting when we are wrong)
- don’t be a fan of a church
- look after your salvation
- don’t make anything an idol or swear on anything

Revelations 9 (Part 8) The Sixth Trumpet

By Odon Bulamba (26th August 2005)

Revelation 9: 17 “the heads of the horses were like lions heads, and fire and smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths”.

The horses had heads like lions and from their mouths came out fire, sulphur and smoke. Lions are apparently beautiful animals but when they get angry, their voice is frightening and their roars can be heard in a distance of 4 km.

Today there are lions everywhere even in NZ, they are getting ready for the coming war; these are tanks. They apparently look nice but if it opens its mouth, you’ll see only fire, smoke and sulphur. There are tanks in each country under the sun, even Vatican has some. What for? To protect the country against any attack; people answer. People use their brain or lots of money to build the best tanks. People make beautiful, attractive and expensive plans for that. We are frightened though and we know they can only bring death. Who can buy death? They are trying their best to be ready for the big war against Jesus-Christ.

This war will not only be political but it will also happen in churches. Churches are good at accusing people. People gossip and take private information to others, this occurs in churches. So with these tanks human beings will be killed and today we are killing each other with our way of talking or doing things. People are really hurt.

Remember that God said to Adam: “The day you eat this fruit, you’ll die”. After eating the fruit, did Adam die? No. So we might call God a liar. For God though, Adam was dead, he couldn’t see him anymore and that’s why He had to call him, “Where are you?” Fortunately, Adam still had the courage to say where he was, but unfortunately he was away from God.

What about us? Do we see that people next to us are dead even if they look alive? The church will kill a third of the church and the politicians will kill a third of the politicians, fisherman will kill a third of the fishermen and so on. The UN will not come and kill a third of our nation, we will kill each other in different ways physically and spiritually. It will happen everywhere even in democratic countries.

Revelation 9:19 “For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they inflict harm”.

Imagine someone fighting with you. In front they can kill and in the back their tail can kill as well. So the politicians can kill half of the third of the world and the church will fulfil the other part. It means that our government will try their best to install peace and democracy through new laws they are voting now. These are actually contributing to the fulfilment of the Word of God so that at the end of the times, children will never obey their parents thanks to an Act that protects the child.

That Act doesn’t protect the child against sin but encourages the child to sin and makes it unlawful for the parents to correct the child. This is a big mistake. Another way: be free and feel free! And pastors will go and bless wrong marriages in God’s eyes for money.

So, wrong things will be supported by the church. Remember Jesus told us about five virgins who had lost their senses. Half the church will walk for Satan and the remaining half will go through tests and trials so that only a small number will remain and accept to join Jesus forever.

When churches will change their laws, we will start to support them as snakes. Snakes are small and weak animals and if you hold their head properly, they can’t bite you but if you don’t know how to hold their head, they can kill you. That’s what we do in our spiritual journey, we try to apply the Word of God according to our feelings and our will. The Bible has become a book that people use to defend their mistakes, to cover them and to show everybody they know better that anyone else.

God draws our attention again to the altar: think about its four corners, about atonement. Never forget it, otherwise you’ll get lost. None of us is perfect, we are sinners, accept it and ask for forgiveness. Repentance doesn’t cost anything.

There was a church in Africa that had to deal with problems. They decided to take a lamb, and go on top of the mountain, kill it and take its blood to spread everywhere. People would take it as sign of forgiveness but where does the power of a lamb’s blood come from, is this magic or cultural? In this instance, people wanted it to be a sign. This was a danger because people don’t know what they are worshipping, they make covenant with a power they don’t even know about. Be careful with things around you.

In some countries, when a child is born they bury the cord of the newborn baby and plant a tree. They say when the child grows up they know that under that tree there is something that belongs to them and they will respect the tree and treat it like their god because the tree knows the secret of their life but if a witch picks up that cord you can easily be killed.

So, people keep worshipping Satan and God at the same time, without knowing it. This exists even in Western countries. They call it culture. Remember that a Christian has only one culture and it is the same all around the world, it’s not the culture of your tribe or country.

So you see how much those serpents, churches will destroy the world. Even behind Islam or terrorism, churches are there today to destroy.

This is my advice: never be a fan of a particular church because fanatics destroy. If I am a fan of someone, whenever he does wrong I will agree with him. If someone says something against that person, because I am his fan, I will be shocked and I’ll talk negatively against that person. I’m not saying: Don’t go to church! But never forget that salvation is a personal matter, look after it properly.

Be careful not to bite others. Many Christians today bite and poison others. If people are from different denominations, they refuse to work or have any contact with them but if they belong to the same denomination or the same church, people will be nice and friendly to each other. This is a danger. It’s better to first belong to the Church of Jesus Christ and then go to a local church. Your church or your pastor will not take you to heaven. Let’s struggle for our salvation.

Jesus told us about the Pharisees: Accept what they say when it’s good but do not imitate their actions. Don’t be misled. In NZ, you might be told that unless you belong to this particular church, you will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Even the pastor might teach you that salvation is to belong to his church because it’s the best one. Few pastors will tell you to go to the church next door because they are not sure of their church.

But John did, he said that whoever wants to know God more, just follow God not him. Nobody will say in front of God: “Sorry God, I’ve been misled by this person. That’s why I didn’t do what I was supposed to do.” Did God call you “Brethren” or “Closed brethren”? So let’s be really careful: stop, repent, and adore only God not things that have no meaning, not our denomination. Otherwise we might adore demons without knowing it.


Question: Is the verse 16 talking about a physical or a spiritual army? That’s a physical army, which later will be given a power from Satan because that army will not die but keep on fighting.

Question: You talked about the river Euphrates in the Garden of Eden, was the Garden a physical place?  According to the theologians, the Garden of Eden was somewhere in Iraq. They talk about it as a physical thing. But we are a bit blinded and God doesn’t want to show it to us because according to theology it’s protected by angels. God doesn’t want us to see it, and that’s why we can’t see it. But personally, I think the Garden of Eden is somewhere else and the River Euphrates is in Iraq today just to remind us where things started. God wants to show us that this was the limit of my people and this limit isn’t there anymore. People can cross it and go to another country on the other side. For example, Iraq is invaded by many armies from different corners of the world and they can easily use that river to carry weapons on boats. They use that river in a bad purpose just to fulfil what the Bible says. So the time is coming. Eden is somewhere but we can’t see it and we will find out more about it when we get to Revelation 22.

Question: Are you saying that the Garden is on the earth? Or is it found only in the spiritual world?  Maybe both. The Bible explains it clearly spiritually. But physically we can also say where the rivers Euphrates, Tigris are. These names were given to these rivers because they are signs of the end of times and God wants us to learn from those signs.

Revelations 9 (Part 7) The Sixth Trumpet

By Odon Bulamba (26th August 2005)

So John heard the voice coming from the four corners. This is what he heard: ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” This river is not fictional but physical from the beginning, see Genesis 3. It was in the Garden of Eden, and has a big meaning in our lives.

John was told that from the river, four angels would come out and destroy the world.

Revelation 9:14-15 “saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to kill a third of mankind”.

These four angels are bound to the river of life, to the river of the Garden of Eden. They are not bound because they are prisoners but because if they were released they would destroy. They are dangerous and their presence means death. They are not evil angels, they are angels of God and He controls them. He told them to wait until the day the angel with the sixth trumpet is told to release them.

As we are talking, these angels are on their way to come out of Euphrates because the boundaries of that river, which just protect Israel’s territory is not there anymore. The boundaries have been broken and enemies can enter Israel now: Palestinian, terrorists … can go and bomb Israel. These angels are just about to be completely free. They will also come towards us by occupying the four corners of the earth, North, East, South and West. This is how they will attack the world, they will kill a third of the people living under the sun. You might ask yourselves how they can do that. Remember they will do it because they have been prepared by God for that very purpose since the day of creation. It is their mission: the day they will be released, they will destroy the world and no one can change God’s plan or stop it. That day has come and the hour too.

Revelation 9:16 “The number of the troops of cavalry was two hundred million; I heard their number.”

So at first, four angels get ready to kill a third of the world and then an army is alive, coming from nowhere. They were many, and John couldn’t recognise them. They were just a crowd and he heard the number: 2 hundred million. That army is well prepared today: the United Nations is that army. Today they are made of one hundred and ninety million soldiers. They call themselves “peace keepers” and are from many different countries including NZ. The missing 10 million will soon come and join them. That army will be the strongest in the world, it is made of all the nationalities and if that army fights against you it means the entire world fights against you. That army is prepared for the battle of Harmagedon (Revelation 16:16 & 19:17-21). They will fight against Israel because they say Israel is destroying them and when this happens, Jesus will come back to intervene and they will fight against Jesus-Christ. They are really well prepared morally, mentally and physically. They are just waiting for one thing: the baptism of Satan so that they will have the spiritual power never to fear whatever they are fighting.

Revelation 9: 17 “And this was how I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates the colour of fire and of sapphire and of sulphur; the heads of the horses were like lions heads, and fire and smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths”.

So this army according to John’s vision has no fear and has the protection of a breastplate wherever they go. With this, nobody can kill them and today any soldier of the UN can tell you that wherever they go, nobody can kill them as peacekeepers. Everybody respects them everywhere. People think they come to protect them but on that breastplate there are three colours: red, blue and yellow. If we mix these three colours what will come out? Red and blue make purple and adding yellow we will have a confusing color.

Similarly, these people’s actions will be at first represented by the red color that represents fire. So they will use fire and what does the Bible tell us about fire? Hell, … everything that can consume. The red color is hidden, but the blue color can be seen clearly: they call themselves blue helmets. If we think of a fire in our fireplace, we will see these three colors: yellow, red and blue. They are always together and work together. So these people are not bringing peace but they are coming to consume the entire world.

Everybody will talk about peace: the Roman Catholic Church, the UN, churches, everybody but the more we talk about peace, the more we lose it. The same people who talk about peace are the ones making weapons, and preparing wars, selling weapons to others and claiming they will be tomorrow’s protection. These weapons are made for the battle of Armageddon (Harmagedon). For example, they will use a biological weapon against the divine army led by Jesus because they will find that ordinary weapons don’t kill. These weapons will not work either. At that time God will show His people (those who belong to Him) how strong He is.

The yellow color is like sulphur. Remember in Genesis, sulphur came down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Sulphur burns and produces fumes which are toxic. People will associate sulphur with a mushroom shape: at first a small stalk coming from the ground starts to grow and it gets bigger and finally opens up to have a big surface on top. Mushrooms can be really big and even snakes come to live under them to be protected from the sun or the rain. If you want to pull it, first check if there are any snakes because if you don’t, you might be bitten. Today, the mushroom is already out, growing, and starting to open up.

So people will say: “I think Muslims are terrorists.” And others say: “No, not Muslims but Arab countries”, and others think America is ready to destroy the world because they are rich or Russia because they have biological weapons. There is confusion. The mushroom is not completely open yet and we can’t tell who is doing what but it will get clearer as time goes by.

Think of the elections in America: despite the many wrong things President Bush did, people still wanted him as their president for a second term. This is the same thing in other countries. It is not our will, it is a power and we’d better open our eyes to see the signs of the times, to see the wrong leaders chosen, those who will prepare our people, our children, our armies to join that big army that will fight in the battle of Armageddon.

When God arrived for the first time in Sodom, he told Lot He was here with him and he warned him to leave that place because God will destroy the city and Lot had that courage to tell his wife and children, friends and family members. Unfortunately they didn’t believe his message was from God and those who saw Lot’s visitors came to know them and practice homosexuality. That made God very angry, He came out and pulled him back inside. Lot offered his two virgin girls. God said: “What is he talking about? Are you encouraging what doesn’t glorify Me? Come inside and you people, be blind!” They became all blind and God started to destroy the city.

The church of God lives in confusion. They will join that army, the UN and get ready to fight. So, first of all, test that army, go and touch them and see if it’s really God or not. During that time, the world will become blind. I am telling you today that our church is blind, everywhere in the world. Try to talk to pastors, evangelists or everyone, and you will see that only a few people have the vision, for the others it’s just a business thing. We are not even prepared for Jesus to come back tonight. Who is ready for that among us now?

If God rings us now and someone here picks up the phone and hears God warning us He is coming back in 5 minutes, who will believe them? God will push us to leave as He did for Lot. We will doubt. We all have in us a voice telling us we are right in our way of thinking. So we need to be prepared and if we don’t, sulphur will come into our eyes.

Revelation 9 (Part 6) The Sixth Trumpet

By Odon Bulamba (26th August 2005)

The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. Revelation 9:13-16

Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God.

In verse 16, the angel blew his trumpet. He is the sixth one. He might have been different from the first five ones. After blowing the trumpet, John heard a voice, which didn’t come straight from God, but from something symbolic, the sound of a horn. In Revelation 8 and Exodus 30, we studied the role of the altar. In Exodus 30: 1-12, we see how this golden altar is completely different from the altar used to offer sacrifices (chapter 27).

In chapter 30, we see how the golden altar was a very special place for God: He said he would come and meet with “you” there. God also specified He will need perfume. So, every time Aaron will come to clean the lamps or the area, he had to offer perfume as well as every evening he had to offer incense. Aaron was not allowed to go there if he was unclean. In order for Aaron to enter that first holy place, he had to prepare himself physically first, then spiritually. Aaron was never sure he was clean enough, so he would be attached at his left or right leg and also had a bell attached to him. The bell was a sign for the people that Aaron was alive. If Aaron went inside in a state of sin, he knew God would kill him right there. So he knew he had to be ready and fear God.

The Israelites knew that in that place, everything was serious and the person inside could die. And Jesus said that even by our thoughts we could sin. If Aaron walked into that holy place, and thought: “What did my son do yesterday?” he might have been condemned. But knowing he was chosen by God he realised he had to make an effort to live a pure life and every time he wanted to go to God, he had to purify himself because God Himself is pure.

Unfortunately, in our new generation, we don’t purify ourselves before going to God. We think God is just like a friend. It is true that he is our friend but he is a holy friend, not like you and I, and He gets closer to people who try their best to be clean. If you are not clean, God will keep His distance from you.

So Aaron used to prepare himself, he would put on the robe he had been given and dress exactly according to God’s instructions. Unfortunately we enter the holy place today, and stand in the presence of God without asking ourselves if we are ready to be there or not, if we deserve to be there, and without checking our actions.

What really supported Aaron, was his community. He knew he was chosen as a servant of God and his entire community was behind him waiting for him to do something. If he didn’t do what God had told Him to do who will do it at his place? Let’s imagine, if I didn’t feed my children, who will do it or if I didn’t play my role in the church of God, who will do it for me? I know many people are waiting for the result of my meeting with God as the people were waiting for Aaron. If someone here prays for me, I am waiting for something from their prayer. But if that person doesn’t do it, I will not get what I should.

So let’s fulfil our responsibility all the time and we even have greater responsibility that Aaron has. His work was to go inside with the blood, do the atonement and come out. That was all. But for us, we have bigger responsibilities, God asks the strong to help the weak, God asks those who have knowledge to share it with those who don’t, and we have to love each other. Aaron didn’t have that responsibility he just had to serve God once a year, but you and I are called to serve God every minute of our lives. So if Aaron was useful in God’s eyes, who are we now? Don’t you think we are better than him?

So every time Aaron went inside, he would carry the blood, put it on the four corners of the altar and then spray blood everywhere else. God taught Aaron to offer just one particular type of sacrifice not just anything he wanted. Remember once, Aaron’s children offered something different and God killed them.

When I was young, my Mum used to say: “You are a lucky boy because God is a bit old now. When He was younger, He was angry and He wouldn’t have tolerated what you’re doing. He would have killed you on the spot, no time to say sorry.” I used to laugh but later on, I understood that God is not older, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The difference is that we have grace now so we have that chance to live. Ask yourself, if you were living in Moses’ times, would you still be alive today? Maybe God would have killed all of us because of our sins. Who can stop God from killing you? Doctors or science can’t do it.

So that altar was supposed to be a place of reconciliation with God. When I think of atonement, I think of someone admitting they are wrong but if you don’t admit your wrong doing it will be hard for Aaron to take the blood with his finger and put it on the corner of the altar. The sign of atonement tells us to admit our faults, our wrongdoing. People often can’t admit their wrong doings, but instead explain to God they meant something else. We struggle to accept our faults. This makes us resist God.

During this time they had the grace to repent only once a year, it was easier for people to accept they were sinners because they knew if they didn’t repent on that day, they wouldn’t have that chance tomorrow and if they died in sin, they will disappear forever.

Today we have that grace with us and at every second we can say sorry and forgive each other, but we don’t repent and don’t really accept our faults. In the old days, they had to remember all their sins before coming to the priest, the 1st of June I did that and in February I did that and in March it was that … they needed a good memory to remember 365 days in one year.

God wants to teach us that we have His grace today, why don’t we accept our faults, repent and follow His instructions. It will make things easier.

So the angel came from the corner of that altar. The corners were important because they meant atonement. To have atonement, first admit your sins or faults, otherwise it will be really hard or even impossible to hear God’s voice.